2/29/12 This morning while I had some free time when I was in Mission Viejo, I decided to take a walk and pass out “smart” meter flyers. I drove north on Crown Valley Parkway and stopped in a neighborhood of newer homes, with inviting front porches and street names suggestive of Great Britain. This is a home on “Downing Street.”
This was not Mission Viejo, I realized when I looked up and glanced at the street sign, but rather a newer area called “Ladera Ranch.” For most people who need to be closer to LA, it is out in the boondocks, but it is so beautiful anyone would love to live there. 
However, when I got to the end of one cul de sac, I had my first sighting ever of a “Medusa” or “collector meter” which I want to share so you know what it looks like. The collector meter is the same diameter as the other smart meters (called relay meters) but it rests on a “cuff” so it extends out more. It contains three antennas instead of two. They call it a “collector” meter because it collects the information from several hundred other smart meters and then transmits that information wirelessly to the utility company. Because it is more “active,” it emits more radiation. This was a San Diego Gas and Electric Itron Meter. I think this homeowner might want to get on the analog list.
When I got home I saw my own walkway, which is on the other side of my neighbor’s smart meter, had a new pile of dead bees. This, dead bees in our garden, is a new occurrence. Sometimes they aren’t yet “dead,” but I see them walking on the ground, not able to fly or get back to their hive.
Note: For further info on artificial EMFs effect on bees, see “Bees, Birds and Mankind” by bioscientist Ulrich Warnke; and a talk by geologist Starling Childs in this post: “Why He Loves His Smart Meter.”
Stop Smart Meters Irvine 
GET USED TO IT.
Norhthern California’s PG$E Corporate Management have already killed people in Hinkley, California and San Bruno California and other places less well known.
Why are you Southern Californian’s complaining about smart meters? Do you think you deserve better than those adults and children that have already been killed by PG$E?
I just don’t understand you people. PG$E and other utility companies have a record of killing and sickening people throughout the country and that’s not going to change. The utility companies are simply trying to make more money, like the rest of us, not protect your kid. Why don’t you people just do nothing and accept it, like the rest of us?
I am going to opt out, if for no other reason than to avoid having a collector meter.
Hi Michael,
And the “collector meter” is like a hot potato. Nobody wants one of those. What is the utility going to do when collector meter homes opt out? Come by and install the collector on another home?
I have been searching for the past 6 months to find a meter that looks like the one in this picture. Do all collector meters look like this because ours looks exactly like the one in this picture? Hydro told me it was just an adapter collar that we needed to convert from a 4 prong system to a five prong system, but 2 electricians have said that is “bull shit”. Everyone in our home has been severely sick since they installed the smart meter on our home in Ontario Canada. My father has since died because he took a bad fall and hit his head he was so dizzy, and our cat died of a rare lymphatic cancer. When they first installed the meter our cat started walking around the house with his ears perked up high and his head spinning and shaking. After always sleeping with us the cat started sleeping in the laundry room, furthest away from the meter. That is where I sleep now because our cat found it to be the safest place in the house. We all began suffering from loss of balance, dizzy spells, pressure headaches, muscle aches, insomnia, floaters, erratic blood pressure readings, chest pains and tight pressure, face pains, heart palpitations, and the list goes on. Our smart meter is made by a US company and they have been installed in many cities in Ontario. I have read nothing but disturbing information about this firm such as in their 2010 annual report to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, in which they stated, “We are highly leveraged and have significant debt service obligations. As of March 31, 2010, we had total debt of $465.9 million outstanding.” As well, I read the article that reported in 2009 an engineering employee became a whistle blower after he was fired after he repeatedly told management about a multitude of dangerous defects in their meter. Can somebody please tell me how I can tell if our meter has an adapter collar or if it is a collector meter because I can’t trust our local hydro officials as I have caught them in numerous lies. My family has been diagnosed with electromagnetic hypersensitivity by the Environmental Health Clinic in Toronto and they have sent a letter to our hydro asking them to remove the smart meter and replace it with an analog meter because our condition is a medical illness and is supported by the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Hydro ignored this letter. In a recent meeting with the CEO of hydro he said that analog meters no longer exist and can’t be purchased anywhere. He said we could move the meter approximately 30-40 feet from our house (at an enormous expense to us in the thousands) but electricians tell me this will not solve our health problems as the RF and dirty electricity issues will still exist as it continually pulses day and night. In Ontario there are several companies that will check your house with meters to see how high the levels of exposure are, and one company said he can list over 500 families who are suffering negative health issues from the wireless smart meters. Some hydro companies have aided the sick by leaving them have analog meters while other like mine could care less. Even after telling the CEO of my hydro that my goal was to get my family well over the next few years, he told me that his goal is to have the entire city RF. Once again “it is all about hydro’s goals and wishes, and nothing to do about health issues”. Anyone who writes that wireless meters are safe, are definitely employes of hydro, installation companies with big contracts, or installers, etc. who make a lot of money over the conversion. They are complete idiots- do they actually think we want to be so disabled and sick? What do we have to gain from that? Call the Canadian Environmental Clinic and the American Academy of Environmental Medicine and you will have the true facts as they both call for a moratorium on smart meter installations.
Hello Dale, (I think you may have received 2 false starts of this comment). Can you put me in touch with, send me contact info for, a person in the “one company said he can list over 500 families who are suffering negative health issues from the wireless smart meters”? (a quote from your comments). What company? Phone #? I am trying to figure out what makes smart meters so sensitizing. You may want to look at the 3rd, 4th and 5th articles I list under my “Articles by R.Conrad” tab on my website http://www.conradbiologic.com
Thanks, Richard
Hi Dale,
I have not heard of the utilities using a collar to convert a basic smart meter from a 4 prong system to a 5 prong system and it does sound like b.s. I can ask around, though. Canada, however, uses the same smart meter manufacturer (Itron) as SCE and SDG&E. If your meter looks exactly like the picture and is a different size from your neighbors, then it probably is a collector meter, which is more active because it has three antennas.
Perhaps if they don’t listen to you individually, you can connect with an activist group. Also, a group might have an analyzer and they could take measurements–though it sounds like your cat (poor thing) was already telling you something.
Melissa
Hi Melissa,
Our smart meter is made by Sensus Metering US. When we expressed concern that our meter looked different than all the other meters in the area, the metering manager of our hydro agreed to come to our house to show us that the meter had an adapter collar mounted under the smart meter. He said this was because we have a 400 amp service instead of a normal 200 amp service. He came to our house with a service tech from hydro and the technician put his key in the lock ring and he proceeded to turn the key (without much effort) and then he said, “Oh, this lock ring can’t be removed”. When my husband asked why not he was told, “It is contaminated”. Then the metering manager said they would have to call another truck to saw off the lock ring but that could take several hours, so my husband returned to work. That was November 24 of 2011 (over 6 months ago). That is why our electrician said the whole thing is bs. He said the lock ring can be removed very easily and my husband even offered his tools. Is this a case of “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”? There is also a hydro meter in an
empty field not far from our house and the metering manager promised to let me know who owned that meter because we were also wondering if that could be some kind of collector meter for the subdivision. It is not an empty building lot. There is a small pond on this piece of land, and therefore it can’t be built on and is left vacant for the subdivision. We still don’t have an answer on that. Surely hydro must know that they are only increasing our suspicions of their work, by acting so secretive? If everything is
above board, then why all the secrecy?
Hi Dale,
Regarding the other meter, what the utility companies are doing is putting free standing “smart” meters on city streets. Since I never really looked at meters before, I’m not sure if there were analog meters on every corner, or if this is completely new infrastructure. The smart meters all over the place are part of their “mesh” network.
All the meters are emitting radiation all day long as they need to “chatter” with each other to sync. The meters which do not have the cuff (do not jut out as far) are called “relay” meters.
Dale, I just assumed you’re from Canada because you mention Hydro. There are some excellent groups/activists working to stop smart meters in Canada (also Great Britain and Australia.). Please write back if you need some references/links.
Melissa
Hi Melissa,
Yes please, if you could provide some references and links for the people in Canada who are suffering negative health effects due to smart meter installations it would be greatly appreciated. There doesn’t seem to be anyone in Ontario who is able to give proper direction other than the Environmental Health Clinic in Toronto, and the clinic’s waiting list is now over one year. Thank goodness my family has already been diagnosed by this clinic. The citizens of British Columbia are more pro-active, and because of their close proximity to California they are fully aware of the health dangers.
Thank you for all your help,
Dale
Hi Dale,
I sent an e-mail to an activist who is in Canada, but I have not heard back yet. However, on the web site Citizens for Safe Technology, there is a contact page for the Ontario area. Here is the link: http://www.citizensforsafetechnology.org/regional-contacts-in-about-cst,14,0
Pingback: Reports of Dead Bees After SmartMeter Installation Add to Growing Alarm About Smart Grid Ecological Damage | Stop Smart Meters!
Wow! That explains it! I’ve been baffled as to why there are so many dead bees in my backyard within the last couple of years! Very disturbing.